Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow buildings hit by drones, says mayor; one dead in third attack on Kyiv in 24 hours | Ukraine

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko has confirmed that 20 residents were evacuated from the damaged building after last night’s attack on Kyiv, and that one person died, four were injured.

In a Telegram post confirming that he had visited the 24-story building in the Holosiivskyi district affected, he said:

Search and rescue operations have been completed. Damaged cars of residents are taken out of the yard. At night, 20 residents were evacuated from the damaged building. One person died, four were injured.

The commission is already examining the extent of the damage in order to begin restoration work as soon as possible.

In general, as a result of the night attack, one person died. Eleven were injured. Of those: six people received medical care on an outpatient basis, five were hospitalised. Currently, three people are in the city’s hospitals.

Klitschko added a warning in his message, telling residents:

The probability of air attacks is very high. Therefore, I urge the citizens of Kyiv not to neglect their own safety, not to ignore the alarm signals!

And do not go out to the balconies and streets to observe how the air defence works. Because at night, a woman died in a house in Holosiivskyi district, who went out on the balcony to see how drones were shot down.

Andrei Krasov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma defence committee in Russia has been quoted by Tass saying that the drone attack on Moscow this morning had been intended to spread panic, but had failed.

On the morning after a night in which Ukraine claimed Russia launched 31 drones at Kyiv, resulting in at least one civilian death, Krasov said Russia’s armed forces “use weapons and military equipment only in relation to military facilities, in relation to military infrastructure” while accusing Kyiv of trying “to strike at civilian objects and sow panic.”

He said Ukraine intended to cause fear among residents not only of Moscow and the Moscow region, but also in other regions.

“But this action, which they so carefully planned, fell through,” he added, saying “The Russian Federation has rich experience in conducting counter-terrorist operations. We gained this experience in the fight against terrorists in the North Caucasus, in Syria. We have rich combat experience. We will apply this experience properly now.”

The UN has recorded over 18,000 civilian casualties, including more than 6,660 people killed, since Russian launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has attacked Kyiv with missiles and drones for three consecutive days.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has appointed Konstantin Molostov as chairman of the country’s state border committee, Reuters reports the Belta news agency said on Tuesday.

He replaces Anatoly Lappo, who has been retired from military service, Belta said. The state border committee is responsible for ensuring border security.

The new appointment comes amid heightened tensions with neighbouring Poland. Warsaw said last week it would close its eastern border to Belarusian and Russian freight vehicles.

Russia used Belarus as a launching pad in February 2022 last year for its failed attempt to capture Kyiv in Ukraine.

Our video team have put together this report on the overnight strikes in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

A Ukrainian presidential aide denied Kyiv was directly involved in a drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday, but predicted an increase in such attacks.

Russia said Ukraine had launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow but that air defences destroyed all eight of the drones.

Reuters reports Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told the “Breakfast Show” YouTube channel “regarding the attacks: of course we are pleased to watch and predict an increase in the number of attacks. But of course we have nothing directly to do with this.”

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin has said that residents are beginning to move back into their apartments after they were evacuated earlier after drones attacks. He posted to Telegram to say:

Emergency services have taken all the necessary measures to study the circumstances of buildings damaged by unmanned aerial vehicles. [Having been] evacuated for the purpose of unhindered work of special services, residents are beginning to return to their homes. Residents of the building on Leninsky Prospekt will be the first to return to their apartments. Specialists have been instructed to eliminate minor damages in buildings as soon as possible.

Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that in the last 24 hours, the Russian army shelled eight cities and towns of the Donetsk region.

It states that a total of 26 civilian objects were damaged, ten people were injured, and two people died.

The claims have not been independently verified. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions which the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed last year.

Here are some more of the images from Kyiv overnight, showing the impact of the overnight strike on local residents.

A video clip purported to be from the site is being widely shared on social media, showing two children discussing the events, with one asking “How did we even survive there” and the other replying “I don’t know”. They are identified as being six and eight years old.

Russian state-owned news agency Tass reports that traffic in Moscow was blocked for about an hour along Udaltsova Street from Leninsky Prospekt to Mikhail Pevtsov Street as a result of the drone attacks, but that it has reopened. Tass also reports that Moscow’s airports are operating normally.

It has this timeline of how reports of the drone attacks in Moscow earlier today unfolded. It writes:

Early on Tuesday morning, Tass was informed by the press service of the capital’s head office of the ministry of emergency situations that employees of the department are investigating the circumstances of an incident along Atlasova Street, during which windows were broken in a multi-storey residential building. Fire and rescue units arrived at the scene. No signs of fire were found. According to eyewitnesses, the sound of an explosion was heard at the time of the incident.

Emergency services told Tass fragments similar to a drone were found around the house. Windows on three floors were broken.

Later it became known that law enforcement officers were checking information about two more multi-storey residential buildings in the west and south-west of Moscow, located at Leninsky Prospekt and Profsoyuznaya Street. There were also broken windows in some apartments.

Here are some of the images sent to us over the news wires from Kyiv, which has been attacked by Russian missiles and drones for three consecutive nights.

Kyiv resident Valeriya Oreshko has told the Associated Press in the aftermath of Russia’s drone strikes on Ukraine’s capital that even though the immediate threat was over, the attacks had everyone on edge.

“You are happy that you are alive, but think about what will happen next,” the 39-year-old said.

Another resident, Oksana, who only gave her first name, said her whole building shook when it was hit.

“Go to shelters, because you really do not know where it [the drone] will fly,” she advised others. “We hold on.”

Elsewhere in Kyiv, AP report falling debris caused a fire in a private house in the Darnytskyi district and three cars were set alight in the Pechersky district, according to the military administration.

Russian ministry of defence blames Kyiv for ‘terrorist’ Moscow attack involving eight drones

Here are some of the first images we have been sent over the news wires of the incident in Moscow, where two people sought medical attention after drones struck buildings in an attack.

Anton Gerashchenko, a former Ukrainian minister, has described the overnight situation in Kyiv as “difficult”. In a tweet he said:

Another difficult night for Kyiv. Now just hours passed between Russian attacks.

Russia launched 31 drones last night, from different directions, in waves, to make it more difficult for air defence. 29 drones were shot down.

A residential building was on fire when drone fragments hit it. One person died, several wounded, many evacuated. Several private buildings and many cars were damaged according to the Kyiv mayor.

Most of us got little to no sleep last night, hearing explosions and praying for our air defence. We joke that in Kyiv it will take you three days to get eight hours of sleep. We hold on, we fight and we will get through all this.

Here is a recap of the messages that Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, has sent out this morning after an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack on Russia’s capital. His initial message on the Telegram app came at 7.21am local time (5.21am BST) and said:

Early this morning, a UAV attack caused minor damage to several buildings. All emergency services of the city are at the scene of incidents. They are finding out the circumstances of what happened. So far, no one has been seriously hurt. I ask you to trust only official sources and not to distribute unverified information.

25 minutes later the mayor sent a second message, telling residents of the city:

For safety reasons, during the work of emergency services, measures were taken to evacuate several residents in two houses that were hit by a UAV. Immediately after the end of the work of special services, residents will be able to return to their apartments.

An hour later he gave this update:

According to information from the medical services of the city, at the moment, none of the residents of the houses damaged by the UAV were seriously injured. Two people sought medical attention. Nobody needed hospitalisation, all necessary assistance was provided on the spot. Also, emergency services and several ambulance teams continue to work at the scene of incidents.

The investigative committee of the Russian Federation has issued a statement about the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack on Moscow. It says:

Investigators of the investigative committee are investigating the facts of the fall of UAVs on buildings in Moscow

Several buildings in Moscow have suffered minor damage as a result of the fall of unmanned aerial vehicles.

In addition, a number of unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by Russian air defence forces on their way to Moscow.

According to preliminary data, there are no victims. City emergency services are on the scene. Russian investigative committee employees are also working at the scene. Persons involved in the crime are being identified.

Reuters has a quick snap that Moscow’s mayor has said that two people sought medical assistance, but nobody was seriously injured in the drone attack on Moscow.

“No one was hospitalised and the necessary assistance was provided on the spot,” Sergei Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Here is our story with what we know so far about the attack on Moscow: